To the right you will find general guidelines on key points regarding rest periods and meal breaks, with links to some of the legislation. If you can't find the information you need or are wondering what your next step should be, we encourage you to visit our Get Help page.

Rest Periods / Meal Breaks

Rest periods, meal breaks, days of rest and eating periods are issues covered by provincial and federal employment standards legislation. All jurisdictions in Canada require that employees have a minimum period of rest or day off from work and most stipulate that breaks have to be provided after a certain number of hours at work. There is no legislation that mandates "coffee breaks."

There is an extensive list of exclusions, exceptions, special circumstances such as emergencies, and distinctive accords such as averaging agreements that can affect when and how long your breaks or rest periods from work can be.

In general, you are not paid for rest or eating periods and breaks. However, your employer might have to pay you if you are required to stay at your work station during that period. (Information about legislation covering hours of work in a day and/or week can be found on the Hours of Work page.)

Determining your rights to breaks and time off work can be a difficult task. It requires careful reading of the appropriate section(s) of legislation and corresponding regulations. In addition there are numerous exceptions and exemptions that may need to be considered.

Alberta

• Your employer is required to give you at least one rest day a week. However, under certain circumstances, you could be required to work 24 days in a row, but that must be followed by four consecutive days off.

• If you work in Alberta, your employer must give you a 30-minute rest period for a shift of more than five consecutive hours. You must be paid for the rest period if your employer insists you remain at the workplace during that break.

British Columbia

• Legislation in British Columbia provides for at least 32 consecutive hours off work each week. Should you be required to work during that rest period, your employer must pay you 1.5 times your regular hourly rate for each hour worked. You must also be provided with a minimum eight hours off between shifts.

• Your employer must provide you with a 30-minute meal break if you have to work more than five consecutive hours. The break must be paid if your employer requires you be available during the meal break.

Federal

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Note: There is no legislation requiring meal or rest breaks during a work shift.

• The Canada Labour Code entitles employees to a minimum of one full day of rest per week, preferably a Sunday.

Nova Scotia

• Nova Scotia legislation requires that you get a 30-minute break if you work more than five consecutive hours. If you work more than 10 hours in a row, you are entitled to take two 30-minute breaks, one of which may be split into two 15-minute periods.